THE TOURIST ATTRACTION by Sarah Morgenthaler. This is the story of Graham and Zoey. It takes place in Moose Springs, Alaska. Graham is a local that runs an eatery that is extremely popular with all. He is a bit on the grumpy side, yet truly has a heart of gold. He cares for his friends, family and the animals. Zoey, is a waitress that has saved for a long time to visit Alaska. She is down to earth and truly enjoys all the beauty that she encounters on the trip. Although, to say she has a bit of bad luck, is truly an understatement. She finds herself in some predicaments throughout. I enjoyed both of these characters and the story itself. This was certainly a slow burn romance as they fought it since she was only there short term. But together, I found them to be a sweet and endearing couple. After a while, the book did drag a bit for me but still found it to be an enjoyable tale that brought me smiles, and even some chuckles, I will certainly read and look forward to future works from this author. (received NetGalley ARC for honest review)

I adored this book! This will be one of my favourite romances of the year for sure. I loved Graham’s grumpiness and Zoey’s dorkiness, the banter was great and I loved the Alaskan setting. Highly recommend this one and I can’t wait for the sequel!

I was so excited to be approved for this book!

The Tourist Attraction is an Alaskan romance set in Moose Springs, following Zoey, a tourist staying at the main resort in town, and Graham, a grumpy local who runs a popular diner. When Zoey eats at Graham’s diner, he is immediately drawn to her, and their chemistry is instant.

I really enjoyed the dialogue in particular throughout this novel. It was flirty and authentic, and I fully understood the connection between our two protagonists. I also thought dual POV really worked here in this romance, giving an insight into both sides of the story and both of the character’s personalities.

The main point of conflict in this novel was the tourist/local divide, and the inevitable clash that this presented in Graham and Zoey’s love story. Although this added to the slow burn nature of their romance, at times the pacing was off and I willed them to resolve their conflict sooner than they did. Instead of arguing constantly, I just wanted them to enjoy the time that they did have in Alaska together!

I loved the way that this novel concluded, and it made me want to move to Alaska and find a love story myself! I will definitely look forward to more books by this author.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. While I enjoyed the characters and their instant connection, I ended up thinking the pace was slow and the book ended up dragging on when it could have been shorter and wrapped up nicely. However, I would recommend this if you like small town romance books.

When Zoey gets to go on her dream vacation to Alaska after saving for many years she is expecting to see the stunning scenery, hike in the mountains and go on adventures
She isn't expecting to fall for the local diner owner Graham.
Graham runs a local diner that is very popular with the tourist even though Graham hates them and wishes his town could go back to the way it was before a luxury hotel opened up. He has a strict no tourist romance policy but can't seem to get Zoey out of his head.
This is a cute, fun romance about two people who know that they really shouldn't get involved with each other but can't stop thinking about each other. A fun escape to travel vicariously while stuck at home in isolation.

This one sort of fell flat for me. 35% in and still not catching my interest. I didn't feel enough spark/chemistry and just felt uninterested.

4.5/5

There’s something about a grumpy hero in a romance novel that just works for me, maybe it’s because I’m kinda grumpy myself but Graham stole my heart almost instantly. His diner started out as a joke and his customer service is nonexistent, picture lots of grunting and you get what you get with a surly attitude. Then there’s Zoey who is his polar opposite, she’s adorable, sweet, quirky and awkward and I loved her too. So with two main characters that I liked I was already happy and then throw in an amazing Alaskan setting and it really couldn’t be anymore perfect for me!

This had all the rom com feelings and was super sweet too, very much cutesy rather than sexy but Graham and Zoey’s chemistry was great. It’s a great beginning to a new series, the secondary characters were fantastic and I can’t wait until my next trip to Moose Springs! Oh, if you’re an animal lover there is also plenty to love her taking this to a whole other swoon level.

Overall, this was an okey romance story. It didn't really grab me from the beginning, and I wasn't able to connect with any of the main characters. Their love story doesn't really stand out like other novels I've read, and I didn't find more to the story than the love story.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes romance novels, because even though I wasn't really into it, it's still a fun and good love story.

Thank you so much for NetGalley for this arc, and the publisher! All opinion are mine.

I LOVED IT! It was funny, quirky, boho and so loving! I love one a good story start at a beautiful place like Alaska!
Once I knew that Sarah Morgenthaler is a geologist I was like: I HAVE TO get this book! I am geologist too! :)
And the book did not disappoint me. I loved how the love line evolved! Gooosh it was such a fun read and I love a good romcom/ women's fiction!

REVIEW | The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morganthaler

This debut was SO adorable. I absolutely loved the sweet romance between Graham and Zoey. Their chemistry was really cute and well established even at a PG 13 level. The moose was also such hilarious comic relief. I love when a book can make me want to travel! Must go to Alaska ASAP 😍

The book start off strong with its hilarious opening chapter and how it introduced the soft but surly diner owner.

Sadly the story lost me at the 20% mark. It was a real struggle to continue reading because the book just was no longer making sense. The writing is VERY choppy. I often had to stop and reread passages because I was sure I was skipping something, but sadly I was not. It was the story that was missing pieces. For example, you think you are inside but then they are outside in the next sentence or I thought she was on the horse, but then she wasn’t, yet then she was back on the horse based on the writing. It just wasn’t flowing. Even a lot of the sentences and phrases used were very off. The writing lacked a lot of finesse.

I had high hopes for this cute romcom but as I trudged through the pages but hopes dwindled.

The way that Zoey gets off track on the trail and has the run in with Graham started off cute but was then taken way too far. Why were they put in a holding cell? That’s really where I was becoming disconnected.

Another major part of the plot truly bothered me was how everyone was anti tourist. It was something I could not get over. While I do understand Graham’s policy of not dating a tourist, I do NOT understand his deep distain for tourists overall.

I live and work in an incredibly popular tourist destination where I am constantly surrounded by tourists. I can assure there is never an “us vs them” mentality like this town has. Even if you don’t work in tourism/hospitality here, you understand that tourism is very important to the local economy and that many people’s livelihoods rely on the tourist’s dollar.

The way it’s portrayed in this story is absolutely absurd. Not only is plain rude how many of these tourists are treated in the story, it’s also unrealistic. This is a small town in Alaska. Why in the world would they be turning down tourist dollars at the cinnamon bun restaurant and not even have a sign out front?

And don’t even get me started on how difficult it is to turn a profit at a restaurant and how Graham should have been belly up based on how he runs his business and is constantly closing it. The part about how the food safety inspector was enemy number one was also completely bizarre.

I assume the intent of these pieces of the story were to create the feel of a small town, it actually felt insulting to my intelligence as a reader.

More elements just didn’t make sense including why a deluxe hotel suite would leave Zoey to sleep on a couch. And why would millionaires come to this lodge to drive sports cars and stay out all night like it was Vegas when everything is closed? And why would Zoey, who has been saving for this trip for ages, be barely doing anything each day? It’s like she only leaves the lodge once a day.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t work for me.

I had been hearing a lot about "The Tourist Attraction", so was excited to receive an advanced copy of it through NetGalley- and it did not disappoint! Apparently it also a first in a new series, the Moose Springs, Alaska series, and it left me excited for the next book to come! Graham Barnet is a native Alaskan who owns a very small diner/bar, (that was supposed to be a local secret, but has become well-known) called "The Tourist Trap" in the resort town of Moose Springs, Alaska. He is not a fan of the tourists there, though he has become friends with one of the town's wealthy visitors, Lana. When Lana arrives back in Moose Springs with her introverted friend Zoey, whose life-long dream has been to vacation in Alaska, Grahan finds himself falling head over heels for her, despite Zoey being a tourist and wanting to do all the "touristy" things there that Graham despises. However, as his feelings continue to grow for Zoey, Graham worries about the fact that soon Zoey will be going back to her small-town in Illinois and he will never see her again. And Zoey finds herself falling more and more in love with not only Graham, but the things that he loves about Alaska as well.

"The Tourist Attraction" was the perfect rom-com book for the start to summer! The characters were lovable, and although I wish we got to see Graham and Zoey's relationship go a little deeper, it was a great start, and I'm guessing we'll see more as the series progresses. Graham was your typical tough-guy with a heart of gold guy, and I loved his sarcastic and sassy side, and Zoey was the typical introverted, small-town girl, but it worked!

Thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✓ Takes place in Alaska⁣
✓ Small town⁣
✓ Grumpy hero with a furry sidekick⁣
✓ Dorky heroine⁣
Sign me up 🙋🏻‍♀️⁣
⁣
• Zoey Bear is our adorable heroine. Funny and witty. She's a fellow bookworm reading AT a bar with her glasses constantly sliding down her nose, how can you not like her?⁣
• Graham. Grumpy at first but is actually a sweetheart. Has a furry sidekick, Jake, so of course I already like him.⁣
• The book is a bit TOO perfect and happy. Not much drama but a lot of funny dialogue. It's light and easy. ⁣
• Insta love. Let's also not forget this all takes place in a span of 2 weeks. I let it slide because reading about Zoey and Graham was so enjoyable. Realistic? No. Fun? Yes.⁣
• Overall, I really enjoyed this one! Lots of laughs and if you need something fun and simple, give this one a try!⁣
⁣

Graham Barnett runs The Tourist Trap. A favorite dive of the locals in Moose Springs, Alaska, the Trap is where they all go for burgers, reindeer dogs, and a cold beer. Despite Graham’s attempts to keep the tourists out (he doesn’t even have a sign out front), the Tourist Trap is one of the hottest places in town for locals and for anyone else with an internet connection and the ability to search for good food options. He does everything he can to disappoint his customers. He makes them clean up. He doesn’t keep regular hours, He insults them as much as possible. But they just keep coming back, lining up outside the restaurant even. Graham just can’t catch a break.

And then Zoey walked in.

She was with Lana, who Graham had known for years. Lana was a regular at the expensive resort up the road and she had found and fallen in love with the Tourist Trap, despite it being a dive where tourists were unwelcome. Lana came in the door with her designer clothes and thousand-dollar bags, and Graham just rolled his eyes at her. But then she brought Zoey with her. And Graham went down for the count.

Graham fell hard for Zoey. Like how Ulysses, the town moose, had fallen for Graham’s truck. Rubbing up against her, leaving his mark, knocking off the passenger side mirror. That moose really loves that truck. Graham hasn’t done that kind of damage to Zoey, but he has. strict no-tourist policy on his heart, and now that’s just as dented as his truck.

After she gets crazy drunk on his famous Grizzly Bear and Lana disappears, it’s up to Graham to take Zoey back to her room at the resort he never visits. Then, when she needs someone to join her on the whale watching tour that is truly cringe-worthy to the locals, he jumps on board and deals with the corniness of the bus ride to the boat, the seasickness, the tackiness, and falls more in love with how much Zoey comes alive when she gets to experience the wildlife of his native Alaska.

Zoey, meanwhile, has saved up her meager tip money from her waitressing job at the diner outside Chicago, and she’s not about to be distracted from a single moment of her dream vacation, not even by a smart, funny, charming guy who she may have mistaken at one point for a chainsaw killer. She’s not going to be distracted by his kindness, or his self-deprecating humor, or his strong arms, or even his ability to acquire her a cinnamon roll the size of her head. Nope, not one bit. Definitely. Absolutely. Maybe. Although she is on vacation. Would it hurt to maybe try just one kiss?

While Zoey’s vacation isn’t always going the way she expected, it’s definitely filled with adventures, laughter, and even some fireworks. But even if Zoey and Graham find a way through all the distractions and detours that are trying to keep them apart, what happens when the vacation is over?

These two weeks in Alaska, and these two adorable characters, make The Tourist Attraction a must read for all romantic comedy fans. Author Sarah Morgenthaler infuses her own love of nature, specifically Alaskan nature, into this adorable story of travel, adventure, friendship, romance, and the love of a good dog.

Personally, I have never been to Alaska, and I can’t tell you the last time I had a vacation, but I can tell you that this novel helped make up for all of that. It’s an adorable story with characters you want to spend time with in a place filled with magic. It’s the perfect vacation for when I’m stuck in the breakroom at work instead of taking a ride on a whale-watching boat. If you are a rom com nerd like me, don’t let this one pass you by!

Galleys for The Tourist Attraction were provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca through NetGalley, with many thanks.

After washing out of art school as a chainsaw carver, Graham tried to open up a simple hole-in-the-wall grill for locals in his small Alaskan town, only for it to promptly be overrun by tourists from the expensive resort just up the mountain. Despite serving all of three food items, avoiding signage or marketing, coming up with the worst signature drink he could think of (the Growly Bear, a blue concoction with floating gummy bears), and gruffly making everyone clean up after themselves, business is booming at The Tourist Trap. Graham still prefers the occasional moose (he named one that loves how his car smells like bread) to all of the tourists he has to deal with every day, with only one or two exceptions. Zoey, a career waitress who has scrimped and saved to be able to join a rich friend who's a regular at the resort, is about to be the biggest exception to all of his rules. If you need a sugar-sweet, romantic-interest-at-first-sight (thankfully not insta-love) romantic comedy where everything around the leading lady goes spectacularly wrong (she's not a klutz but she might be jinxed) yet everything between her and the guy she doesn't think she could possibly end up with goes right (besides a humorously bumpy start), this is a solid option.

Author: Sarah Morgenthaler

Rating: four out of five bread-loving moose 🍞🍞🍞🍞

i was a little unsure what i wanted to rate this, so i went with my gut, and ultimately this was 'just okay' for me. i'd say about 50% of this had cutesy moments or moments that made me laugh, but then i was cringing and grimacing for the other 50%.

let's start with some things i liked:
- i actually liked Graham a lot. he reminds me a lot of Luke from Gilmore Girls, who i love. he had that grumpy guy who runs a diner deal going on but then is soft for one (1) woman
- i liked the setting of Alaska and the small town vibe, and i think it really worked for this
- i liked the vacation romance until like the last 30% (view spoiler)
- the banter between Graham and Zoey wasn't awful. it definitely got cringy at times, but it wasn't the worst

and the things i didn't like so much:
- zoey has no personality other than being "cute" to graham. i can't name a single hobby she has or things she likes to do other than she had a book at the beginning, never to be seen or mentioned again
- i didn't hate the side characters, but i feel like it should have ended at Lana, Ash, and Easton. the others just had me confused multiple times because i had literally no idea who they were or why they were relevant (aside from people obviously running shops + hotels; i mostly mean Enzo, Killian & Haleigh. Killian sort of has a purpose, but the others?? no idea who they are)
- Graham's violent behavior streak. i get that he's the grump character, but he did not come across as violent to me. this behavior comes out of nowhere several times and it's not really addressed as bad or toxic behavior other than Zoey calling him an "alphahole" literally once. that type of behavior didn't fit the vibe that i was picking up from Graham's character. idk, i just don't think that kind of violent, "protective" behavior is romantic. i think it's kinda concerning lol.
- idk if it was the pacing or the writing style, but this book felt way longer than it needed to be even though it's barely 350 pages. maybe all the different types of touristy dates made it feel too repetitive? i'm not sure exactly what it was, but the book dragged a little. i think maybe the instant connection at the beginning and a lack of tension between them led to a "date after date after date" repetitive feeling with very little to spice things up

This is one of those "high concept" romances that allures you with its originality and quirky characters. My only struggle--and this is supremely objective, not at all an indictment of this book or its quality--is that it's written in third-person. Mostly found in historical romances which I love, third-person is a narrative style that naturally creates greater cognitive distance between a character and me. No "I" to step into, but an omniscient hovering over "he" and "she". So, unfortunately this book took me many tries to get myself into, simply because it felt oddly hard to dive into, even with its engaging premise. That said, it's cute, upbeat, and makes you fall in love with Alaska. I think, had it been written in the voice more common to contemporary romance of first-person, I would have been head over heels.

I had picked this book up a few times and always ended up putting it back down. It started off so well with just the right amount of comedy. However, it started to drag and drag. A slow page and a hero I didn't like kept me from finishing this.

CW: [moose is relocated due to incident with tourist (50% survival rate, unknown if dead or alive) (hide spoiler)]

After a rough start (I was ready to DNF at 10% because the hero is such an asshole), the book got better. I liked it! Still some irritating aspects but overall it was worth a read and I’d rec it. Grumpy/sunshine vibes, beautiful scenic descriptions of Alaska, comedy heavily dependent on physical humor, fade-to-black sex scenes, and a rom-com with very little sorrow/grief/trauma. One of the happier contemporary romances with an illustrated cover that I’ve read in a while. I’ll definitely pick up the next one.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Tourist Attraction was a great start to the Moose Springs, Alaska series! Set in the small town of, you guessed it, Moose Springs, this one stars two characters who are obviously attracted to each other - you could feel the chemistry between them! Add in a very good boy (blind border collie) and I was sold.

Zoey, a waitress at a truck stop in a small town in Illinois, has been saving for ages to be able to afford a trip to Alaska. (In part, she's able to afford it because her rich friend Lana's letting her crash on the couch in her suite at the resort.) Graham's a townie, the proprietor, line cook, and sole employee of the Tourist Trap, a stand that sells burgers, reindeer dogs, and fries, and is a total tourist attraction (...much to his chagrin).

These two hit it off, and following along with their adventures in Alaska was a blast. You can't help but itch for them to get together, despite their mutual reticence (Zoey's got a return flight booked, and Graham has a rule against flings with tourists). I do wish Graham were a bit less violent; there are ways to express anger without fists! But overall these characters were well-drawn and I really enjoyed reading their story. I'm also looking forward to book 2 in the series!